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Sopa De Frijoles Negros

A hearty soup of black beans, ham, onions, and peppers simmered with herbs and bouillon.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Oregano and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,449 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Sopa De Frijoles Negros

Time1 to 1½ hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Sort and soak beans overnight, then drain and discard soaking water.

  2. In a 4-quart pot, sauté onion in butter or margarine until tender but not browned.

Simmer

  1. Add soaked beans, 4 cups water, bouillon cube, ham (cut into 4-6 chunks), bay leaves, thyme, oregano, salt, and red pepper.

  2. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, 1 to 1½ hours.

Thicken and serve

  1. Remove 1 cup of beans from stew, mash in a bowl with a potato masher or fork.

  2. Add mashed beans back to stew; stir to thicken.

  3. Remove ham and dice.

  4. Remove bay leaves and red pepper, if used, and discard.

  5. Add diced ham and green pepper to beans.

  6. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

  7. Serve beans over fluffy white rice.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

798Calories
63 gProtein
42 gFat
39 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Pork100g cooked242
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Leafnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Oregano + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Beans + oreganotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together453 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexyl acetate (fruity, apple).

  3. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,242 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Black beans
Provide the main body of the soup; mashed portion releases starch that thickens the broth.
Ham
Adds savory, meaty flavor to the broth and chewy bites in the finished soup.
Onions
Soften in fat to build a sweet, aromatic base for the soup.
Butter or margarine
Fat that carries flavor and softens the onions without browning them.
Green bell pepper
Adds fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavor and a tender-crisp bite.

The step that matters

Mashing and stirring in the beans to thicken. Mashing only one cup releases starch that thickens the broth. Mashing too much makes the soup pasty, while skipping it leaves the soup thin.

Swap the oregano

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, onion, butter, beef, ham, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Oreganothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, onion, butter, beef, ham, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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